This invention relates to a generator to produce a television signal which has the artistic effect obtained live by viewing moving objects with the sole illumination being a high intensity strobe light. This type of illumination is often used on stage or at parties to produce a subjective effect of discontinuous motion. In practice, this well known device pulses a high intensity strobe lamp from some source such as a pulse generator. When used as a sole illumination in a dark room, its sharp, short pulses of light cause the eye to retain frozen images of any moving object, giving the illusion of discontinuous motion. This invention provides means for achieving the same subjective result in any television image whether it comes from a live camera or a prerecorded source.
The recent advent of all-electronic digital field stores and frame stores has made practical the "electronic snapshot" whereby a single frame of, for example, some critical sports action may be snatched in real time from the continuous video signal and presented as a still picture for close inspection. In all prior art application the concept has been limited to a "single snapshot," taken at the discretion of the operator and held for an indeterminate period. Then again at the discretion of the operator, the store is terminated and live video is again applied to the output line.